#F1 Victims of Circumstance: Spielberg 2015 – #AustrianGP

[For those who are new to the page; TJ13 attempts to remove certain aspects of the race to give a fairer reflection of the race result.]

A fairly dull affair in the Austrian countryside had its most exciting moment on the first lap, with Kimi Raikkonen mounting the McLaren of Alonso. Of course, this is not exactly track that promotes lots of overtaking, but surely it is a reason for having Tilke designed tracks. There will be those who point towards the alterations that the German designer made, but the Spielberg circuit was never one of high overtakes, merely one of attrition. As cars have become more reliable, the track layout must also adapt in order to maintain the audience.

The closest Rosberg will get to a home (German speaking) win this year

So what really happened?

Sebastian Vettel: Anther Ferrari pit stop error costs a driver once more. Vettel looked a sure fire drive for third place had it not been for the overly complicated wheel nut slowing him down. He is moved up one place.

Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso: Ruled as a racing incident, both drivers remain retired. In truth, it has not cost McLaren any points, just another expense to repair the car.

Jenson Button: In a way it does not really matter what the problem is with the car, it is just a sad situation to take a 25 place grid penalty and still not be able to finish the race. The man from Frome is reinstated to 16th place.

Romain Grosjean: Having already had his chance in Q3 taken away by an oil leak, the Sunday of the GP weekend did not go much better for the Frenchman either. When the gearbox gave up it was curtains for his race, but at least in ‘Victims’ he is still awarded the points. Grosjean is awarded 8th place.

Carlos Sainz: Having run into his grid girl on arrival before the race, perhaps the omens were already not looking good for the Spaniard. He was handed a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane (which cannot be corrected) and then suffered a loss of power after his pit stop.

Will Stevens: An oil leak brought the Manor driver’s day to an early end, though beating his teammate was the absolute best he could have hoped for. He is awarded 18th place behind his teammate on this occasion.

The Verdict
This leaves the revised results table looking like this:

Revised Race Position

Driver

Result comparison

Points

Points Difference

Grid Position

Start

RevisedPosition

1

Nico Rosberg

=

25

=

2

1

2

Lewis Hamilton

=

18

=

1

2

3

Sebastian Vettel

+1

15

+3

3

3

4

Felipe Massa

-1

12

-3

4

4

5

Valtteri Bottas

=

10

=

6

5

6

Nico Hulkenberg

=

8

=

5

6

7

Pastor Maldonado

=

6

=

10

7

8

Romain Grosjean

RETIRED

4

+4

9

8

9

Max Verstappen

-1

2

-2

7

9

10

Sergio Perez

-1

1

-1

13

10

11

Carlos Sainz

RETIRED

0

=

12

11

12

Daniel Ricciardo

-2

0

-1

18

12

13

Felipe Nasr

-2

0

=

8

13

14

Daniil Kvyat

-2

0

=

15

14

15

Marcus Ericson

-2

0

=

11

15

16

Jenson Button

RETIRED

0

=

20

16

17

Roberto Merhi

-3

0

=

16

17

18

Will Stevens

RETIRED

0

=

17

18

19

Fernando Alonso

= RETIRED

0

=

19

19

20

Kimi Raikkonen

= RETIRED

0

=

14

20

Below, the revised World Drivers’ Championship:

Driver

Revised WDC

WDC Points Difference

Position

Points

Lewis Hamilton

1

172

+3

Nico Rosberg

2

162

+3

Sebastian Vettel

3

120

=

Kimi Raikkonen

4

79

+7

Valtteri Bottas

6

67

=

Felipe Massa

5

64

+2

Daniel Ricciardo

7

30

-6

Romain Grosjean

8

27

+10

Daniil Kvyat

9

17

-2

Pastor Maldonado

10

18

+6

Max Verstappen

11

13

+3

Felipe Nasr

12

8

-8

Sergio Perez

13

9

-4

Carlos Sainz Jr

14

7

-2

Nico Hulkenberg

15

13

-5

Jenson Button

16

2

-2

Marcus Ericsson

17

0

-5

Fernando Alonso

18

0

=

Roberto Merhi

19

0

=

Will Stevens

20

0

=

*Those with 0 points will not be ordered

What they would have said

A double points finish for the Lotus team would have been a welcomed haul for the Enstone team, alas it was not to be. With the Force India car looking to be much improved, they could have a fight on their hands to beat the Silverstone squad, as well as the Toro Rosso cars.

Another Ferrari podium went begging as another poor pit stop cost the Maranello team. The worst bit is over the course of the season it will have little impact on the final standings. A two-horse race for the Championship is really not that exciting.

Quote of the Day

The origins are unknown, but it was once said…

This may be true for most of life, but it is certainly not in Formula One. It did not cost him in the end thanks to Massa trundling along in third place, but Lewis Hamilton could have rued the decision to haphazardly cross the white line on pit exit. In the end, it’s water under the bridge – as they say.